This invention relates to a subsea well production flow system and to a method of production testing and recording downhole characteristics in a subsea well. In particular, the invention relates to a method and system which assist in the determination of the quality and amount of products, such as gaseous or liquid hydrocarbons, produced by the well while at the same time logging the well to identify the rate of flow over the producing formation sections.
When a new production well is drilled and completed, it is necessary to flow test the well to evaluate its performance and flow characteristics from different intervals of the well. In an existing field, the well can be connected to the field seabed infrastructure and flowed back individually along the field's dedicated test line to the surface production installation on the surface installation, the well fluids can be separated and analysed for, amongst other things, flow rate, density and composition while at the same time carrying out a well intervention to monitor the downhole characteristics using a separate intervention vessel.
There are numerous disadvantages to this approach. Firstly, the subsea field infrastructure requires an individual and separate test line. Secondly, the new production well must be close to a field connection point and subsequently has to be connected to that connection point. Thirdly, the well must have sufficient energy to supply the fluid to the surface for the analysis to be carried out. Fourthly, a separate operation is required to access the well.
Other situations in which it is advantageous to flow test a well are on exploration wells, appraisal wells or early development wells to evaluate the production capabilities prior to installation of the flow lines or for production wells where there are no means to flow the well individually. All of these may be situations in which there is no field into which the fluid can be supplied. Currently, in order to flow test any of the above wells, it is necessary to provide either a drilling vessel or a work over vessel, together with a riser system in which the fluids from the well can be delivered to the surface, where they can be processed by a portable test separator on the deck of the respective vessels.
The disadvantages of the known arrangements are that the well must have sufficient energy to flow to the surface and, as a significant number of wells will not flow naturally to the surface, these cannot be tested.
Typically, the duration of a flow test depends upon the required degree of investigation, but last for at least two to three days, but could be for as long as several months. Quite clearly, the longer the flow test is carried out for, the better the fields reservoir performance can be estimated, but this can, of course, be extremely costly.
For a long test, a surface vessel is required which is expensive, time consuming and entirely dependent on having suitable weather conditions on the surface for the duration of the test. The key factor is to monitor the draw down of the reservoir by continuously flowing the well, and preferably to use continuous monitoring equipment suspended in the well or by carrying our periodic well production logging operations.